Elgin Street Diner Still Serving-Up Classic Comfort Food 24-Hours-a-Day

It?s 4 a.m. and a dishevelled pig has passed out with his head on the table. His fedora has fallen off and his shirt is unbuttoned. An empty glass of beer sits beside his head. When he rouses himself from his stupor he?ll be able to shake off the night of revelry with a cup of coffee and a greasy breakfast ? and he won?t even have to move.

These chalkboard vignettes depicting personified barnyard animals at all hours of the day and night hang in the Elgin Street Diner as a reminder to all that dine: if you?re a hungry night owl, this is the place to be.

The Elgin St. institution has been profiting from Ottawa?s nocturnal demographic now for 13 years. When the diner opened back in 1993 the owners were having trouble deciding on the business hours, general manager Kate Fildes explained in an interview. While they wanted to be able to cater to those in search of an early morning breakfast, they didn?t want to ignore the thriving Elgin St. club crowd that inevitably shows up after last call. ?That left only about two hours that we?d be closed every night ? so it didn?t make sense,? said Fildes.

Judging by the diner?s revenue breakdown, it looks like the 24 - hour concept has worked out. ?We earn 38 per cent of our revenue during the night shift and it only accounts for 33 per cent of our business hours,? Fildes boasts.

Of course, operating a business in the middle of the night comes with its share of challenges. Fildes acknowledges that they get their share of inebriated university students and eccentrics. However, she says that most of their late night customers are simply people who work odd hours.

?You?d be surprised,? she says. ?We get cops, ambulance drivers, nurses, gas and hydro workers, 24 hour tech workers.? She also notes that seniors tend to drop by at all sorts of hours. ?Sometimes they come by for breakfast at 4 a.m.,? she says.

Nevertheless, the inevitable rowdy patrons tend to come out of the woodwork from Thursdays to Sundays. ?We end up working as a sort of extension to the night clubs,? says former night manager Dave Barrow. On those nights it pays to have staff with experience working in bars or clubs, he says.

Barrow admits that working with customers who have been drinking all night can be challenging. ?One night we had a guy get completely naked and start running around the booths and someone had to throw him out? he says with a laugh. ?That was tricky.?

Several police officers frequent the diner throughout the night which keeps most people?s behaviour in check. But there have been some exceptions. One time a drunken brawl broke out in the back of the diner. And staff have even discovered people having sex. ?But really, that kind of stuff almost never happens,? Barrow says seriously.

The Elgin Street Diner is located at 374 Elgin St. in downtown Ottawa. They serve standard coronary-inducing diner fare every hour of the day and every day of the year.

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